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Hi Spotty, and welcome to IIS.
A 12 inch telescope is an excellent size. This is the size of aperture that Rev Bob Evans of NSW has used to become the discoverer of the most supernovae in history! Try not to be discouraged, then. It sounds as though you just need some time observing with others to learn the ropes.
You have not indicated in your post where you live. If you are in the inner city, then yes the city light dome will have the effect of washing out the views a fair bit. This can be compounded by the effect of the moon if you have been observing around full moon.
If you come observing with some of the folk from this forum, such as come to the Pony Club at Mangrove Mountain near Gosford TONIGHT, the guys will show you some of the following:
1. How to collimate the mirrors so that you get sharp images
2. They can check that the mirrors are clean, not damaged etc
3. They can lend some decent eyepieces to you so that you can see the view comfortably, without straining through the narrow cheapo eyepieces which tend to be sold with telescopes
4. They can point you to some targets which will be very pleasing to you!
Astrophotos can be misleading - because the light form these objects are travelling from so far away, their colours are very subtle to the human eye - you should be able to see different star colours without too much trouble, but only the very brightest nebula will give any hint of colour - perhaps only M42 in your case (not rising till about 4am at the moment).
With 12 inches, you should be able to see plenty of galaxies, nebulae, globular clusters etc. Do not lose heart. It is just technical support that is required at this stage!
Let us know how you get on!
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